China-Linked Fire Ant Turns Trusted Cisco Routers Into Silent Spies on Enterprise Networks

China-linked cyber group reportedly targets Cisco Routers - The Tribune

A China-linked cyberespionage group compromised Cisco routers, hid its activity from network administrators and used the devices to monitor network traffic and search for access to other important networks, according to cybersecurity firm Sygnia. The findings were reported by The Epoch Times, citing Sygnia’s investigation into the group, which it calls Fire Ant.

China-linked cyber group reportedly targets Cisco Routers

A China-linked cyberespionage group compromised Cisco routers, hid its activity from network administrators and used the devices to monitor network traffic and search for access to other important networks, according to cybersecurity firm Sygnia. The findings were reported by The Epoch Times, citing Sygnia’s investigation into the group, which it calls Fire Ant.

China-Linked Hackers Hid in Cisco Routers, Stole Administrator Credentials: Report

Sygnia said the attackers concealed activity from network administrators, recorded traffic, and used compromised routers to probe other high-value systems.

China-Linked Fire Ant Turns Trusted Cisco Routers Into Silent Spies on Enterprise Networks

China-linked Fire Ant actors have compromised Cisco IOS XR routers, turning them into stealthy collection platforms that capture traffic via hidden GRE tunnels, suppress logs, and tamper with command output. Sygnia research reveals coordinated attacks on TACACS servers and Linux hosts to harvest credentials and map trusted networks for further espionage. The campaign builds on prior VMware intrusions to target the infrastructure organizations re…

Hackers Compromise Cisco Routers to Spy on Networks and Reach Critical Infrastructure | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #hacker - National Cyber Security Consulting

Fire Ant has moved beyond attacking individual systems and is now compromising network infrastructure that organizations trust to move traffic and manage access. The actor has turned Cisco IOS XR routers into platforms for surveillance, remote connectivity, and movement toward high-value environments. The campaign shows how an intruder can use a router as more than […] Thank you for subscribing to our RSS feed!